Child Labor in the Philippines it's CAUSES & EFFECTS

Child Labor is defined as any work or economic activity performed by a child that subjects him or her to any
exploitation, or is harmful to his or her health, safety, physical, moral, mental, and psycho-social development.
It is stated in the Rights of Filipino Children that A child should not work before a minimum age and never
when that work will hinder their health, moral, and physical attributes. Children are supposed to go to school,
not seeing them working, especially doing those hazardous works.
The latest survey of the National Statistics Office say that out of 29 million Filipino Children, 3 million of them
are engaged into Child Labor and a huge percentage of them enters into a hazardous type of work. For me there
are two leading cause why Child Labor happens in our country, these are Poverty and lack of decent and
productive work. Poverty, in a way that the parents of the child cant afford to sustain the needs of their children
especially education and food, that is why children are forced to work to earn a living for them to help
aggravate their situation. Next, there is a lack of decent and productive work for the parents. If the parents of
these children dont have a stable job the effect would be it is hard for them to sustain the needs of their
children, and because of this, children are forced to work even though they are not yet qualified to work. Child
labor leads to different problems to the child. The effects of Child Labor to children are; it deprives a child of a
proper childhood, they may suffer from mental and physical problems and they become mentally and
emotionally mature very fast.
Child Labor indeed is a big problem. We all know children play a big role in shaping the world when they grow
up. It is necessary that Child Labor should be stopped. Children should be studying at school, not seeing them
doing hazardous works. Thats why we should help each other for us to stop Child Labor, before different bad
effects start to show up.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR

Poverty

Parental illiteracy

Tradition of making children learn the family skills

Absence of universal compulsory Primary education

Social apathy and tolerance of child labour

Ignorance of the parents about the adverse consequences of Child labour

Ineffective enforcement of the legal provisions pertaining to child labour

Non-availability of and non-accessibility to schools

Irrelevant and non-attractive school curriculum

Employers prefer children as they constitute cheap labour and they are not able to

organize themselves against exploitation.

Causes of Child Labor

The major reasons being poverty and overpopulation. These two go hand in hand. Poor families tend to have more
children, and when earnings of a sole person do not suffice, young children are forced to take up jobs wherever they
can. Having too many members puts a financial burden on poverty-stricken families, and parents are compelled to

send their children to work to get extra income.

Lack of education among the poorer sections of society is also a leading cause for children to start working early.
Ignorant and illiterate people do not think twice about engaging their children in manual labor, since they are not
aware of the harmful physical and mental trauma it can inflict on the child. Being poor, they cannot afford a decent
education for the children, nor do they understand the importance of primary education in children's lives.
In many developing nations, textile and garment manufacturers use children to make garments. Factory owners cut
back production costs by employing children rather than adults, who are in turn paid a lot less and forced to work a lot
more. Also, there is no risk of these young laborers coming up against the factory owners by forming unions because
they are unaware of their rights, and hence this practice flourishes on a large-scale.
Even though countries have laws in place, these are not being implemented, leading to further exploitation of innocent
children. Apathy by the government and the society has seen an increase in child workers in developing and underdeveloped countries.
In some countries, women are denied formal education and are brought up only to perform household chores since a
very young age. Such a society believes that an educated woman will not fit into the traditional role of a home maker
and bear children. This notion fuels child labor and young girls thus get pushed into doing manual house work from an
early age.
Families migrating from rural to urban areas in search of better prospects often end up pushing their children to take
up odd, menial jobs. This happens due to lack of proper educational resources in the rural areas, as a result of which
these people do not find jobs in cities. So to make ends meet, children bear the brunt while the adults are left
unemployed.
In villages, people under heavy debt "sell off" their children for a small amount of money or to repay the outstanding
amount. This has given rise to the practice of bonded child labor. As a result, children are thrust into doing very hard
work for long durations of time, that could well extend into their adulthood, till their family is free from the debt.
Effects of Child Labor
Children who work often face serious health problems because of working incessantly in perilous conditions. Often the
employers do not care at all about underage children who are almost always malnourished, and continue to work for
long hours with little or no respite.
Their mental health also takes a beating owing to this severe form of exploitation. These children often face severe
mental trauma when they attain adulthood, owing to the constant threats and ill-treatment they received toiling away
as laborers.
Children who cannot find work to feed large families resort to begging on the streets, and in many cases, also fall prey
to prostitution. At other times, they even turn into thieves just to make a quick buck on which the family's survival
depends.
It also has a negative impact on the welfare of a nation. Since these children do not receive any education, it
increases illiteracy, hampering the overall economic growth of the country, reflecting poor human development.
Lack of education as children also means that when they turn into adults, finding jobs becomes tough since these
children do not possess the necessary skills and training. This leads to a sharp hike in unemployment.
Such children are always underpaid, and that lowers the country's per capita income, putting long-term economic
development in peril.
To put an end to this socio-economic problem, the government must target the root causes, namely poverty,
unemployment among adults, and take measures to control population growth. Steps must be taken to educate
ignorant people from poorer sections about the benefits of education so that children are not deprived of their right to
go to school, and they can turn into civilized adults, get decent jobs, and contribute to the economic growth of the
nation. Child employment or under-age labor is a social evil that needs to be abolished. We as a society must work
together so children are freed from the evil clutches of this malpractice and lead a happy, healthy life.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-child-labor.html

FACTORS

Educational failure

52.6

18.9

Learn a profession

47.8

18.9

Contribute to family income

43.3

66.0

Earn own money

Research findings indicate a clear link between aspects of child deprivation in fact deprivation of basic child
rights and child labor. Numerous studies have identified a triangular relationship between poverty, deprivation

of education, and various forms of child vulnerability including child labor. A review of research findings sheds
light on the nature and the root causes of child deprivation which are conducive to child labor.